The Moroccan Atlas Lions won against Portugal on Saturday in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals in Qatar, becoming the last team from Africa, Asia or North America to face teams from Europe and South America. In advancing to the semifinals, Morocco is only the second nation outside of Europe and South America ever to reach the World Cup’s last four, after South Korea achieved this feat in 2002.
Since the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, Europeans and South Americans have dominated the tournament. Of 21 previous finals played, 10 were between South American and European teams, nine between two European teams and two between South American teams. Only Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France, Uruguay, England and Spain have ever taken home the golden trophy. Soccer belongs to them, it seems. But others are kicking the ball at the Euro-South American door.
In their 2009 book “Soccernomics,” Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski examine success in soccer. Based on amusing number-crunching, they identify three elements of achievement among nations: size of talent pool and country, financial means and a well-established national soccer history. Kuper and Szymanski list the United States and Japan as future heroes on the pitch because they have talent pools and resources and work at their soccer involvement and fan culture. But there are other, less wealthy hopefuls.
More than a decade after the publication of the book’s first edition, another look at the changing landscape of soccer, globalization and money is helpful. Spectacular increases in player salaries and stiff competition for talent mark recent years. The flow of millions of dollars has created a situation in which the richest clubs play against the rest of their country in national leagues. At the midseason break, Real Madrid, worth more than $5 billion, is second in La Liga; Paris St. Germain, or PSG, worth more than $3 billion, sits at the top of the standings for the Ligue 1; and Bayern Munich, worth more than $4 billion, leads the Bundesliga.
Fans bemoan the moneyed success of Europe’s top teams and the greedy commercialization of the most beautiful game. Pondering this question does not prevent fans from cheering their high-priced heroes. Inside the stadium, the game is pure love. Mostly.
As talent is globally sourced and lavishly paid in top European leagues — Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga and Serie A — these leagues set the tone. Other leagues such as the Dutch Eredivisie or Turkey’s Super Lig and the top leagues’ second divisions duplicate moneyed practices at lower prices.
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: Kylian Mbappe, $110 million a year, PSG; Lionel Messi, $65 million, PSG; Cristiano Ronaldo, $40 million, Manchester United until November; and Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., $55 million, PSG. PSG is owned by Qatar Sports Investment, which requires little commentary regarding global soccer financing, politics and “sports-washing.” Players in lesser teams in top leagues can still earn $1 million a year. At the bottom of the Bundesliga, a 17-year-old hopeful can make $400,000 a year. The pitch is awash with money.The extraordinary inflation of player salaries, transfer fees and the global search for talent resulted in a leveling among top earners. This is not some cozy income equality or noble sharing of resources; this means unreal salaries for stars and robust pay for the rest, regardless of ethnicity or nationality. Players are paid according to profitability. To be sure, soccer’s ethnic equality does not transcend the pitch. Managers of African descent are few and far between. And racism in the audience remains a problem.
The world’s best players are coached in top-notch facilities and supported by first-rate staff. During the season, this soccer royalty is distributed across elite leagues. For the World Cup, they regroup into national teams, which partially explains why matches end in penalty shootouts in knockout rounds. It is Real Madrid against FC Barcelona all over again. Sometimes, only team chemistry, luck and the interference of soccer gods make a difference. These nonmonetary elements provide thrill.
Morocco has a long soccer history. Its African record is mixed. (Senegal, the current holder of the African Cup of Nations, fares better.) Wydad Casablanca won the African Champions League title this year under Walid Regragui, who now coaches the national squad.
Regragui’s team benefits from the recruitment of talent and sons of Moroccan immigrants in Europe. Twenty of the 26 Atlas Lions play in France, Spain, England, Belgium, Germany and Turkey. This migratory stream hurts the Botola Pro, the top Moroccan league, but is crucial for the national squad. With players at PSG, Chelsea or Bayern Munich, this squad is excellent. Another future hopeful, Senegal, which was defeated in the round of 16 at the World Cup, drew this year’s roster entirely from clubs in England, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, Cyprus and Turkey. Senegalese players are in top-notch teams such as Chelsea, Tottenham and Milan. Given players’ clubs and respective resources, these countries remain contenders for future finals.
Morocco has a shot at the final. Its squad’s spectacular performance against Spain and Portugal opened the gates to the well-guarded Euro-South American soccer citadel. Already, the group stage had presented noteworthy twists. Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina, Japan defeated Spain, and Tunisia defeated France. (A former colony defeating its former colonizer adds an extra twist.)
Are these losses unexpected, or are they growing and long-overdue cracks in the Euro-South American fortress and indicators of a new era? Given the money, recruitment and overall commercialization, these cracks represent an ironically democratized pitch in a world marked by social, economic and ethnic inequalities.
Every four years, this player equality momentarily helps not-so-wealthy nations to gain respect and surprise the world. Go, Morocco!
Petra Kuppinger is a professor of anthropology at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Since 2014, Kuppinger has taught a course titled “Anthropology of Soccer.”
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